


There's a Saviour in My Hallway (and tinsel on my walls)

by findmethestars (Atunenamedclara)



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Christmas, Christmas Eve, F/F, Fluff, Non AU, redeemed Regina, s2, unestablished swanqueen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-29
Updated: 2016-10-29
Packaged: 2018-08-27 19:53:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8414569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Atunenamedclara/pseuds/findmethestars
Summary: Regina Mills wants to hate Emma Swan. She really really does. But when the bumbling blonde Saviour shows up on her doorstep on a lonely Christmas Eve with a bag full of tinsel, how can Regina say no to her?





	

**Author's Note:**

> Ok! So! This fic was inspired by a twitter conversation with Heba (@sqabode) so thank her, not me.  
> I set this sometime mid season two, when Henry still isn't living back with Regina and she's still very much unredeemed. However, for the purpose of this fic I may have twisted things slightly and made her a tiny bit (ok, a lot) more forgiving to Emma. It's worth it I swear.  
> And also I don't know what you mean, October is too early for Christmas fic, how ridiculous of you.

_~ there are all types of love in this world but never the same love twice - F. Scott Fitzgerald ~_

Regina sighed and pulled the curtains shut with a firm tug. Outside, the beginning of a snow storm seemed to be gathering speed and the wind howled unrelentingly.

The silence inside was deafening.   
Regina poured herself a glass of cider and sat down at her desk, miserably contemplating the paperwork in front of her.  
The calendar read December 23rd and whilst the rest of Storybrooke was in full on holiday mode, the once powerful queen was miserable.  
Her power in the town had been stripped from her, her only useful function now was to sign paperwork that the stand in Mayor had no time to read.   
Her son could barely look her in the eye when he passed her in the street, he would instead look furiously into shop windows and car mirrors, looking anywhere but at the longing expression written across her face.

Everyone had someone and yet Regina Mills had no-one.

The polished wood of the fireplace glinted under the harsh light and Regina was reminded of a happier Christmas, two years ago.  
It had been just a few months before Henry had started mistrusting her, before he began insisting that Regina was evil. Back then he had just been her sweet little boy. They had sat around the tree on Christmas morning and exchanged gifts, just the two of them. Neither of them had needed any other family apart from each other. Henry had saved up his pocket money for weeks to buy her a present, even though she had told him she didn't need anything. He had been so proud and so happy when she had unwrapped the sparkling silver paper to discover the new notebook he had picked out for her. She had kissed him sweetly on the head and cherished the present for months, even though she had no real use for a pink Powerpuff Girl notebook.

Just a few months later he had run off to Boston and brought back the woman who would be her undoing.

Regina gritted her teeth together at the mere thought of the blonde woman who had brought about the destruction of her curse and stolen her son from her.

As the night wore on she sunk deeper into her thoughts, the glass of alcohol next to her, acting as a bitter accompaniment. She plotted various ways to hurt and break the saviour should she ever be in her vicinity again. She mapped out an elaborate scheme to capture her son back and take out Snow and Charming at the same time.   
And at the end of it all, she put her head down on the desk and wept.

She wept for the life she once had, the power and the thrill of the chase. She wept for what she couldn't have, her son and a family and someone who loved her. She wept for what she would never have, for the happiness she knew deep in her bones was all she wanted and yet, all she couldn't have.

A sharp knock at the door startled her out of her thoughts. She stood up hurriedly, and wiped away any traces of tears that were left on her cheeks.  
She didn't bother to check who was at the door.  
She wished she had.  
Emma Swan was standing on her doorstep, arms tucked tightly around her body trying to keep the warmth in. Her cheeks were flushed with cold and the tip of her nose matched the colour of the garish jacket she insisted on wearing.

"H-hey Reg-Regina" she stuttered out, hopping from foot to foot as she spoke.  
"Miss Swan! what the hell do you think you're doing?!" Regina couldn't believe what she was seeing. How dare she, how dare the woman who made her life a living hell have the audacity to show up on her doorstep, at 9pm at night!  
She continued on, without giving Emma a chance to explain herself. "There better be an extremely good reason for why I find you standing outside my house at this hour of the night Miss Swan, or you will find yourself spending the rest of the night in a jail cell for public disturbance!"  
"Regina! That's not- that's not fair! Or true!" Emma argued back heatedly.  
"Ah. But nobody will need to know that will they. Now, did you understand the question or shall I repeat it again? What. Are. You. Doing. On. My. Porch?" Regina's eyes glinted dangerously as she spoke.  
"I...um...my car broke down and Tillman said it will be at least an hour until they can tow it and that was already 20 minutes ago, and PLEASE Regina I'm so cold can I just like, sit in your hallway or something? I won't make any noise or anything, please, I can't feel my hands and I think my toes might start dropping off."  
Emma looked up at Regina, her eyes wide and pleading. Regina scoffed. Absolutely not. There was no way on earth that she would be letting this woman into her house anytime soon. No. No way. She opened her mouth to tell Emma exactly what she thought of her request.  
"Fine. But if you drip water onto my clean surfaces I will be sending you a cleaning cheque." Were the words that came out instead.  
"OhmygoshthankyouRegina!!" Emma squealed and stepped inside without giving Regina a chance to change her mind.   
The brunette watched through dangerous eyes as Emma stripped herself of her soaking wet snow covered outer layers, and positioned her boots neatly by the door. She rolled her eyes as the Saviour took off her footwear, of course Emma Swan wore odd socks.   
Shaking her head wordlessly she stalked back inside the office and clicked the lock shut. If the idiot woman standing in her hallway had any sense at all, she wouldn't touch anything. Regina would know if she did. Regina always knew.

After about twenty minutes of trying studiously to put Emma Swan out of her mind, Regina slammed her pen down with irritation. This was ridiculous! She would go out there right now and tell Emma that she had to leave, that she could wait in the cold or could start walking back to her parents apartment. Regina pushed away the fact that it was storming and dangerous outside. That wasn't her problem.  
She unlocked the door of her office fully intending to tell Emma to leave and not come back, when she heard the blonde let out a pitiful sneeze. Regina stopped in her tracks.   
Oh for god's sake, this was not her problem. Except, Emma's sneeze sounded so much like Henry's always did and something inexplainable tugged at her.   
Emma was standing in the middle of the hallway where Regina had left her. Her hands were jammed into the pockets of her jeans and she was staring at the ground. A small puddle of water had formed from where her loose hair dripped freely onto the floor. Every few seconds Emma would let out an inadvertent shiver and pull her sweater closer to her body.   
This was pitiful, it really was. Regina rolled her eyes. There was nothing to be done except make Emma come into her study where it was warm. Otherwise she would have the insufferable Snow White chasing after her, demanding Regina undo whatever curse she put on her daughter to make her sick.   
However this one time there was no curse, just a ridiculously coloured car which refused to work at all the most inconvenient times.  
"Swan" she commanded.  
"Huh?" Emma lifted her head.  
"Come here."  
"Wait what, why?!"   
"Oh for the love of god Emma, just come here!"  
Emma shuffled over to her, still shivering. Her fingers had turned vaguely purple, Regina observed coolly.

"Miss Swan, if you promise not to touch anything, talk to me, or meddle in any of my affairs, you may sit in my study where it's warm whilst you wait."  
Emma's eyes lit up. "Ooh, really?!"  
"Yes, really. Now come on, you're letting all the cold air in." Regina lead her in and pointed to the sofa.  
Emma sat eagerly, glad to be out of the marbled hallway and in a (slightly) more homely room. And it was warm, so, bonus.

Regina sat back at her desk and once again tried to ignore the gangly blonde sitting in the room. She was moderately successful until she looked around the room to find the decanter to refill her glass. An uncomfortable feeling pulled at her. It would be sort of rude to drink without offering something to Emma, seeing as she was sitting right there. Ugh. Regina rolled her eyes and pulled a clean glass out of the cabinet.  
"Drink?" She asked crisply.  
"Huh? Oh, um, yeah!" Emma stuttered.  
"Cider?"  
"Got anything stronger?" Emma grinned halfheartedly, remembering their first meeting.  
Regina's lips twitched despite herself.   
"Scotch?" She offered, holding up the bottle.  
"Sure, why not"   
Regina glanced at Emma as she handed her a healthy dose of whisky. She had some colour back in her face now and her hands didn't look like they might drop off at any moment. Regina wasn't sure why this made her feel relieved, and she wasn't sure she wanted to know.

She poured herself another glass and returned back to her desk, feet padding quietly on the wood floor.  
They stayed like that for a while, sitting in something akin to companionable silence. Regina found that she didn't hate it.   
The blonde was sipping her drink and flicking through something on her phone, laughing softly every so often. Regina finished the fairly unimportant paperwork she had been reading through and was busy organising files of town tax receipts, traffic permits and housing applications which she had meticulously collected over the past 28 years. The new mayor wanted the files by next week and Regina had realised that in the weeks leading up to the breaking of the curse, she had let her organisation levels slip.

"It's not very Christmassy in here." Emma commented suddenly, looking around at the heavy furnishings.  
Regina's good (ok, decent) mood evaporated in one fell swoops.  
"I'm sorry, what?" She snapped.  
"I dunno like, shouldn't you have decorations or something? It's Christmas, even you must like Christmas?" Emma shrugged.  
Regina's breath caught in her throat. "I used to." She whispered quietly.  
"Used to? What do you-OH!" An ashamed blush spread across Emma's cheeks "you mean...with Henry?"  
"Yes." Regina answered, the short statement not doing anything to hide the pain she felt.   
Much to her embarrassment she felt tears welling up in her eyes and she brushed them away impatiently. When she looked up again she realised that Emma was staring at her, understanding written across her face.   
The blonde patted the couch awkwardly. "Come sit. That chair looks uncomfortable."  
Regina sniffed and stood up, too tired of fighting to argue anymore. The Saviour was clearly going to be sitting on her couch for the next while, and well, she was tired and the cider was getting to her and the couch looked comfortable and Emma, Emma looked nice.   
Regina walked over to where the blonde was sitting and positioned herself next to her. She meant to keep distance between them but she misjudged where she sat, and her thigh ended up mere centimetres away from Emma's. She flinched, but when Emma didn't react she didn't move.

They sat that way for a while, both of them lost in their own thoughts, until Emma spoke again.  
"So like...what are you gonna do about Christmas this year?"  
Regina shrugged and muttered something. Emma leant over and poured them each another glass of scotch.   
Eventually Regina spoke "I...don't know" she said hesitantly, wringing her hands together.   
"That's sad." Emma said contemplatively, staring into her glass "I'm sorry Regina. About Henry. I...didn't think." She added suddenly.  
"No. you didn't."  
"But I'll try and make it right! I want to!"  
"There you go again Miss Swan, people pleasing. You're just a puppy begging for attention aren't you?"   
But whilst the words where harsh, they were lacking their usual bite and the alcohol was making Regina's eyes sparkle and Emma found that she had to look away otherwise she would just keep staring and staring and that would be bad, she couldn't do that, not now, not today.

She shook her head to clear her thoughts. "So...um...Christmas. We could ummmm oh! I know!"  
"What do you know, Miss Swan? Please, do share with the class dear."  
"We could decorate your office!" Emma laughed out loud at her own idea, finishing her whisky in a large, fairly undignified gulp."  
Regina raised an eyebrow delicately "and what do you propose to decorate it with?"  
"I have decorations! In my car! That's where I was coming from when it broke! Please Regina! Please!" Emma looked at her with large eyes and that crooked half smile that she only showed sometimes, when she was really happy, like the time Regina had shown up to her welcome back party. That smile. Regina groaned inwardly, there was no way she could resist that.

Emma was already up and halfway to the door, pulling her still wet jacket on as she went. She pulled a beanie out of the pocket and yanked it down over her ears. Regina walked over to the coat closet and pulled out a black trench coat which she cinched neatly around her waist. This was a terrible idea and she knew it. A voice echoed in her head telling her that the real Regina, the queen Regina, would be ashamed of her. But alcohol dulled both the voice and her common sense and she found herself grinning as she turned around to face the door.  
Emma delved back into her pockets and pulled out another beanie, identical to the grey one she wore but in a deep red colour.  
"Here you go!" She waved it in Regina's face.  
"What do you think this is?" She crinkled her nose in disgust. If Emma thought that she was wearing that then she had another think coming.  
"It's cold out Regina. Wear the beanie."   
"No"  
"Yes"  
"No Emma!"  
"Wear the beanie or I'll tell everyone in town that you let the saviour drip melted snow all over your floor." Emma laughed wickedly.  
Regina rolled her eyes and grabbed the beanie, ramming it over her neatly pressed hair and down towards her ears.   
"There!" Emma beamed and opened the door, gesturing to Regina to go through before her.

Five minutes later Emma slammed the trunk shut and handed the last bag to Regina. The blonde woman grinned at something Regina said and then laughed out loud.   
If anyone had happened to look out of their window at this exact moment, they would have been stunned into silence at what they saw. The saviour and the evil queen were laughing together in freshly fallen snow as they manoeuvred bags of tinsel and baubles up Regina's driveway.   
Stranger things had happened but somehow this topped all the curses, portals to other worlds and real life fairy tales that everybody had witnessed over the past few months.

Once they were back inside the study, Regina threw her coat over the back of her chair and Emma followed suit. The beanie stayed. It was warm and besides, red looked great on her. Regina pushed away the thought that it smelt of Emma and instead focussed her attention on watching the saviour get entangled in a string of silver tinsel.  
"Really dear, I find it quite remarkable that you managed to somewhat effortlessly slay a dragon, and yet you cannot put up Christmas decorations without endangering your life and the lives of those around you." Regina raised an eyebrow.  
"Shut up." Emma grunted as she detached the tinsel from her shoe and began draping it around the fire place.  
Regina waved a lazy hand and lit a fire, watching amusedly as Emma yelped and jumped back in surprise.

"Here, let me help you with that." Regina stepped over to Emma and lifted the tinsel out her hand. Delicately she wound it around the room, adding baubles in here and there, allowing it to follow the curve of the wall and the furniture.   
When she turned around after inspecting her work, she started in surprise. Emma was a lot closer to her than she expected. The blonde's warm breath husked on her neck and Regina felt her face heat up in response.   
"I...um...guess that's everything?" She stuttered, taking in the room that she had created alongside the younger woman.  
"Yup!" Emma grinned and bounded over to the couch "isn't it great?!"  
Regina hummed deep in her throat and pursed her lips. It wasn't perfect but it would do. She said as much to Emma who laughed and raised her glass in a toast.   
"To adequacy?"  
"To adequacy."   
They sat for a while, Emma having grown sleepy and thoughtful from the warmth and the alcohol. She rested her head on Regina's shoulder, the grey of her beanie blending into Regina's cashmere sweater. Regina looked out of the window, contemplating the falling snow with an unreadable expression on her face.  
She was so confused. And so tired. And yet, for the first time in months, she wasn't lonely.  
All her senses were telling her to hate Emma Swan. She had destroyed her life from the inside out. She had taken her son away and removed her from her position of power and turned her life into a living hell.  
But when Regina thought about it properly, she realised that all Emma Swan had been doing was her job. Yes, she had taken Henry from her, and that couldn't be forgiven any time soon. But as for the rest of it, if forgetting it meant that Regina could have a friend or have...whatever she wanted Emma to be, she would forget it.  
If forgetting it meant more nights with Emma Swan on her couch laughing too hard and drinking too much, she would forget all of it in a heartbeat.  
And if she kept dreaming, kept wishing, maybe someday it would be real. Maybe someday she could have Henry back, and have Emma on her couch every evening, there just for her, to kiss her and whisper things under her breath. And they could decorate the study for Christmas with Henry and exchange presents around a tree as a family, not as two strangers with a mountain of secrets dividing them.

Emma's phone shrilled, indicating that someone had come to pick up her car and she leapt up hurriedly. She flew out into the hallway and tugged her boots over her calves.  
"Thank you Regina." She turned around and looked the brunette in the eyes. A sincere look was set on her face and her eyes were warm as she looked at the woman whose house she had invaded.   
"Anytime Miss Swan." Regina said dryly, but with a smile playing at the corners of her mouth.

Emma hurried out of the door and into the cold night, and only then did Regina realise. She was still wearing the beanie.  
She pulled it slowly off her head and looked at it.  
"Someday" she sighed, as she walked back into her study and closed the door gently behind her.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to leave a comment or something, I don't know, is that what I'm meant to say?  
> And as always, you can follow me on twitter for gay memes and bad puns @findmethestars <3


End file.
